The project began with 60 composer candidates and will conclude with the selection of four Orpheus commission recipients later this year. The four winners will be announced in mid-October.

Orpheus designed Project 440 in keeping with the passion for new music and for transparency of the creative process that has been a hallmark of the orchestra since its inception in 1972. The project is documented online on the WQXR website, where fans and members of the public have engaged in lively debate about each of the candidates and Project 440 as a whole.

Each composer nominee has a profile page that features samples of his or her previous work and the opportunity for the public to post reactions and comments. The website has fostered dialogue about the nature of commissioning, elements of Project 440 that resemble a popularity contest, and a number of other topics. All of the decisions regarding the elimination of candidates are made by a Selection Committee comprised of Orpheus musicians and staff as well as previously commissioned composers.

Orpheus cellists and Selection Committee members Jonathan Spitz and Eric Bartlett have created a series of videos to document the project from their perspective as well. Those videos are available through the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra YouTube channel.

NOTE: a previous post on this blog omitted Daniel Wohl ’12MMA and Yale undergraduate Preben Antonsen, who both made it to the second round of thirty composers.